


If You Ever Did Believe

by nannygirl



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: F/M, Family Drama, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Tissue Warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 10:52:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14735595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nannygirl/pseuds/nannygirl
Summary: The Formans and the group of friends, who grew up in their basement, are living their everyday lives in the new decade of the '80s until something happens that turns everyone's world upside down. Soon it becomes Jackie's mission to help everyone, especially Red, mend broken bonds, get answers, and hopefully find peace again. JH,ED,KB,RK,F?





	If You Ever Did Believe

She could hear someone calling her name but she didn’t feel like answering them. She was enjoying her nap. She was so tired.

“She’s totally asleep,” another voice concluded then excitedly added, “Let’s do stuff to her!”

“Oo I know! Let’s put her hand in a bowl of warm water,” an accented voice suggested.

“That’s amateur work,” the voice from before, the voice Jackie recognized as her ex-boyfriend, argued with the other. “We should put whipped cream in her hand and then tickle her nose with a feather. She’ll reach up and get whipped cream all over her face!”

“Jackie,” the first voice spoke again, it wasn’t a deep voice but still rather thick. “You better wake up before these dillholes mess up your make up.”

“I’m awake,” the dark haired, petite woman informed; however, her current stature could have fooled just about anyone. “I’m just resting my eyes.”

“Yeah, and practicing your snoring,” scoffed Michael Kelso from across the room—at least he was leaving her alone now.

Donna frowned at the figure of her best friend ‘resting her eyes’ on the old basement sofa. She was sitting on her knees, her left elbow propped on the back of the couch, and her head laying on top of it—her eyes still ‘resting’ beneath her sealed eyelids.

“Jackie, are you okay?” she questioned.

Finally, Jackie forced open her eyes and pushed her head back up into its rightful position. As she sat herself up straighter, and into a less comfortable position, she tried to suppress the strong sensation she had to scream, cry, laugh…she didn’t know what she wanted to do…except sleep, that is.

“I’m fine,” Jackie told her concerned friend, running a hand over the top of her head and through her rich colored tresses.

“Really? Because you fell asleep while I was telling you about my weekend with Eric.”

“Oh Donna, I’m sorry,” her hand touched Donna’s arm in hopes of expressing the sincerity in her apology. “It’s not that your story was boring, although since Eric was involved I’m sure it still was. But I’m just really, really tired. I haven’t been getting much sleep at night lately.”

The worry Donna had towards Jackie diminished just slightly at hearing this, still she did have to wonder why her friend was having such a hard time sleeping these days. Sure, they had all been the similar situation but that had been weeks ago. This couldn’t be about that, it had to be about something else.

“Marvin, still giving you trouble?” the redhead took a guess.

“No,” the younger of the two shook her head. “I haven’t seen much of him lately. I think he left.”

Jackie then turned her attention over to where Fez and Kelso were seated playing with the set of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Usually the mention of Marvin created an uproar from the pair, it was only slightly surprising to get no type of reaction this time. They were too deeply engrossed in playing their game to take in any part of their surroundings.

In just a matter of seconds, the neck of Fez’s blue robot stretched up and out causing Kelso’s own arms to do the same all the while shouting out a loud victory cry.

Watching Michael gloat and Fez sulk, Jackie’s mind remained on Marvin. It felt like it had been such a long time since it was only the two of them in her apartment. She wasn’t lying to Donna when she said she hadn’t seen him lately. She actually missed him a lot more than she thought she would.

“If it’s not Marvin keeping you up, then why’re you so tired?”

“I don’t know,” groaned Jackie as she grabbed one of the beat up throw pillow and hugged it close to her. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with it more, rest her head on it and sleep for a week or throw it straight at Donna’s face to get her to stop bothering her with these all these dumb questions.

Before any further plans of the pillow could be made, a potential possibility struck Donna and she immediately had to find out if it were true.

“Oh my God, Jackie,” Donna’s words were spoken slowly and already riddled with shock. “Are you pregnant?”

That was a question that promptly tore Fez and Kelso’s attentions off the second round of their game and instantly woke Jackie right up. The question was not only like a splash of ice cold water thrown in her face but like she’s had a bucket full of the stuff poured over her head.

“No! God, Donna why does everything these days make you think I’m pregnant?”

“I don’t know,” Donna’s eyes gazed down at her unpainted nails, then with a quick eye roll she was looking back up at Jackie. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I just thought since pregnant women get tired easily and you’re tired…I made the connection.”

“Where did you hear that?” questioned Jackie, she thought that was an odd fact to know offhand.

Again Donna’s eyes averted themselves, “I don’t know, around.”

“Well, I’m not pregnant,” Jackie declared, making sure that the message was loud and clear. She didn’t want the question or subject being brought up again, especially not now, and not in front of Steven.

Still taking on the persona of Nancy Drew, Donna was determined to solve the mystery of why her friend was so tired. Jackie was one of the most energetic people that Donna knew, seeing her so tired now was almost frightening particularly when one considered everything that had happened not too long ago. Donna needed to find out what was going on, she wanted to help.

“If it’s not Marvin and you’re not pregnant, why are you tired?”

“Maybe she’s sick,” suggested Fez cutting Jackie off from responding.

Kelso considered his friend’s idea but he had one he thought was even better. “Or Jackie’s not tired. Cuz she’s not Jackie. She’d Pod-Jackie and she’s tired cuz she’s running low on alien battery juice.”

Hearing Kelso’s idea made Donna send him a look that she reserved just for him, after all he was the only one who could come up with such insane ideas. Jackie would have been right alongside her best friend in frowning at the taller man, but she was just so tired. Meanwhile, Fez was actually taking a few moments to consider the chances of Kelso’s guess being correct; and the more he thought about it, the more it made sense to the foreigner.

“It’s nothing, okay?” Jackie declared before any more guess or agreements could be made. “I just haven’t been able to get much sleep at my apartment because…”

She cut her statement off, feeling the intense stares of the other three. They looked concerned and even confused and Jackie knew that if she continued with what she was going to say her friends would only feel more concerned and even more confused.

Sometimes she was still having trouble believing it and it was happening to her!

The two of them had decided that she would tell the others what was going on eventually, when the time was right. However, with something like this Jackie wasn’t sure if there ever would be a right time; so why not now? Besides, Jackie figured breaking the news to the three friends in this room would be easier, though maybe not by much, than telling the three family members who weren’t in the room.

Jackie looked at the three staring back at her, wanting to remember the way they looked at her before they thought she’d gone crazy. She wished he was here to help her but it was too late, she had started it and now there was no turning back.

“Because there’s a ghost in my apartment,” she explained.

“What?”

“A g-g-g-ghost?” asked a wide-eyed frightened Kelso, in his best Shaggy impersonation.

Answering both questions, Jackie silently nodded her head. Donna sat frowning a frown that was no longer soft with genuine concern, Kelso’s proud conceited stance had crumbled into a cowering hunch, and Fez was cautiously looking around the room as if she’d brought her ghost friend with her. These reactions from her friends were not much of a surprise. In fact, if there was anything surprising about them, it would be that they were calmer than Jackie had expected they’d be.

“What makes you think there’s a ghost in your apartment?” Donna, always the one looking for the logical reason, was the first to ask.

Donna’s tone that her question had been asked in was not lost on Jackie and she did not like it one bit. It sounded like Donna thought she was insane and Jackie Burkhart was not insane!

“I don’t think there’s a ghost, I know there is,” Jackie’s words were firm and angry. “I saw him.”

“Oo it is a boy ghost! Is he cute?” Fez’s fear was suddenly forgotten when he heard the new information about Jackie’s new friend.

Hearing his friend’s lighthearted take on the ghost helped Kelso forget about how scared he had been and instead joined in on the teasing of his ex-girlfriend.

“Jackie’s in love with a ghost, Jackie’s in love with a ghost, Jackie’s in love with a ghost,” the taller man’s ribbing came in the form of a sing-song tone that was in his and Fez’s opinion, quite catchy.

The foreigner was about to join in on the singalong when a realization dawned on him, “Finally I am not the one with the scariest girlfriend! Oh happy day!”

“I don’t know, Fez,” Kelso’s uncertainty put a small damper on the celebration. “Caroline was pretty scary.”

Fez knew how right his friend was and his eyes looked to the ground in a sad manner before he half-heartedly nodded his head in agreement. Sensing that his friend could use some cheering up, Kelso started a new song that Fez was soon happily joining in on with the clapping of his hands.

“Jackie and the ghost sitting in the tree, k-i-s-s-s-s-i-n-g.”

“Wait can a ghost still kiss?” questioned a curious Fez.

Kelso looked at his former girlfriend with a smug look painted on his face, “Jackie better hope so.”

“I am not in love with a ghost!” the petite brunette argued with great rage, hoping that by doing so the idea would be dropped.

“Why not?”

The disappointed pout she got in response made her roll her eyes, “Because first of all he’s a ghost. And secondly it isn’t just some random ghost.”

Jackie took a long pause, one might have thought that it was done for dramatic effect but the truth was she felt the need to pause to help her prepare herself for the revealing of the secret that she sometimes still found hard to believe. Of course it didn’t help that her friends’ eyes remained straight on her, their faces no longer looking like they were worried for her health, if anything they were worried about her mental health; and Jackie was sure once she told them more about the ghost they could very well pick up the phone and call the nearest looney bin. 

The truth was she wouldn’t exactly blame them.

This was going to be the toughest part to share, the toughest part to get them to accept. Jackie took in a deep breath, gathering her courage as she did so, now was as good a time as any.

“It’s the ghost of Mr. Forman.”


End file.
